Apparatus for use in pickling bars, tubes, and the like



June 26, 1956 R. HAMPTON 2,751,916

APPARATUS FOR USE IN PICKLING BARS, TUBES, AND THE LIKE Filed June 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Attorneys I June 26, 1956 HAMPTQN 2,751,9N5

APPARATUS FOR USE IN PICKLING BARS, TUBES, AND THE LIKE Filed June 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2.

Attorneys APPARATUS FOR USE IN PICKLING BARS, TUBES, AND THE LIKE Ronald Hampton, Wightwick, near Wolverhampton, England, assignor to Patents and Investments Limited, Wolverhampton, England Application June 14, 1955, Serial No. 515,347

6 Claims. (Cl. 134-160) This invention relates to apparatus for use in pickling bars, tubes and the like, hereafter termed bars, for the removal therefrom of scale, the products of corrosion and oxidation, which pickling process is carried out on the bars, to clean them prior to and in preparation for working as by rolling, drawing and similar operations.

Hitherto, the pickling process has consisted of immersing the bars in a tank or vat containing a pickling liquid (usually acid), which may be of any several Well-known in relation to the process.

It is well-known that the length of time the process entails can be reduced by imparting movements to the barsvwhile immersed in the bath, and previously, periodical movement by hand termed rumbling, has been carried out. Mechanical rumbling is known, and in one method a chain or rubber hawser is rotated round and under the bars to cause them to move, rub against each other and to rotate tosome extent on their own axes, but this method involves heavy wear and consequently heavy plant maintenance costs.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which will be both efiicient and economical in use.

According to the invention, the apparatus comprises a bath, a bar-supporting cradle or cradles, and a mechanism for raising and lowering the cradle or cradles and bars supported thereby in the bath, said mechanism being power driven in such manner that in a repeating cycle of operation the cradle or cradles are raised slowly and thenlowered rapidly, or dropped so as to impart movement to the bars immersed in the bath.

The base of the bath may be provided with transversely disposed ramps of such shape as to impart lateral movement to the bars during the raising and lowering of the cradle or cradles. In this connection the cradle or cradles may be in the form of slings or stirrups, either rigid or flexible.

Any suitable mechanism may be provided for effecting the requisite vertical movements of the said slings or stirrups, and in order to effect lateral movements of the supported bars it may be arranged that the opposite sides of flexible slings or stirrups are raised alternately. Where two cradles are employed they may be raised alternately.

An embodiment of the invention Will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a broken side elevation of a pickling apparatus for bars and the like.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises an elongated rectangular bath for receiving the bars 11 (Figure 3) to be pickled. Two cradles, each designated generally by the reference letter A, are provided, and are appropriately positioned one toward each end of the bath 10, for supporting the bars 11 in pickling solution (not shown) which the bath contains when operating.

Each cradle A is in the form of a U-shaped sling or stirrup, in that the base and sides consist of three spars 2,751,916 Patented June 26, 1956 ice or struts, a base strut 12 and side struts 13 respectively, the side struts 13 being pivotally connetced one to each end of the base strut 12 at 14.

The upper ends of the side struts 13 of the two cradles are each arranged by a flexible cable 15 to the shorter arm 16 of a bell-crank lever, mounted upon a bracket 17 alongside the bath 10 to pivot in a vertical plane upon a horizontal axis pin 18.

Thus there are four bell-crank levers, a pair at each side of the bath 10, and the arrangement is such that with the cradles A in their lowest position, indicated in chain-dot lines at 19 in Figure 3, the shorterarms 16. of the bell-crank levers are substantially horizontal, and the longer arms 20, which lie alongside t-heoutside of the bath 10, are substantially vertical. The highestposition reached by the base strut of a cradle is also indicatedin chain-dot lines at 19 in Fig. 3.

At each side of the bath, a horizontal link 21 is pivot ally connected at 22 to each longer arm 24) of thepair of bell-crank levers, and each link is coupled by a connecting rod 23 to one of two vertically disposed crank discs 24, freely mounted one upon each end of a transverse shaft 25 journalled i-n bearings 26 at one end of the bath 1!). The shaft 25 is driven in rotation by a worm and wheel reduction drive 27 from an electric motor or like driving means (not shown), and the rotation of the shaft 25 is transmitted to the crank discs 24 by two similar driving segments 28 rigidly secured to the shaft by cotters 29 engagingsleeves 30 integral-with the segments 28, the said segments 28 each being in face-toface contact with one of the crank discs 24.

Each crank disc 24 has an abutment or dog 3-1.Whi0h is engaged by a driving segment 28, the segment engaging behind the dog as seen in Figures 1 and 2, so that the'crank discs 24 are rotated slowly to rock the bellcrank levers and raise the cradles, and any rods supported thereby.

Connecting from a bottom dead centre position of the abutments 'or dogs 31, said abutments are engaged by the driving segments 28 which commence to rotate the crank discs 24 (in anti-clockwise direction in Figure 1). The driving engagement of the segments and abutments 'continues for approximately three-quarters of a revolution until abutments 31 have been carried beyond ;a topdea'dv centre position, which they are shown as approaching in the drawings. The last quarter revolution of the crank discs 24 is due to gravity, as the abutments 31 fall away from the driving segments 28 engaged behind them, and thus the cradles drop suddenly after being raised slowly. Buffers 33 are provided to prevent over-swinging of the bell-crank levers when the cradles drop.

Two transversely disposed upstanding ramps 32 are provided on the base of the bath 10, and are of curved form, as seen most clearly in Figure 3, with the centre portion higher than the ends. These ramps 32 project from the base of the bath to such an extent that when the cradles are fully raised, and their base struts reach the position indicated at 19 in Figure 3, the supported bars 11 are lifted clear of said ramps 32, but when the cradles drop, the bars 11 strike against the ramps 32 and are dispersed laterally thereby. As the cradles are again raised the bars tend to roll back toward the centre of the cradles, and thus the ramps serve to impart lateral movement to the immersed bars, which is beneficial in the pickling process.

The ramps may be of inverted V-shape if desired.

In the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, both sides of the cradles A are raised simultaneously, and it will be appreciated that the U-shaped cradles could therefore be rigidly constructed instead of articulated and flexible. Also, with flexible cradles such as illustrated in the drawings by suitable location of the driving segments 28-relative to'each otheron the driving shaft 25 the opposite sides of the cradles could be raised and dropped alternately instead of together, and this would cause the bars to roll laterally on the base struts 12 of the cradles.

It will also be appreciated that the form of the cradles employed could be varied to suit any particular requirements, and that different drive mechanisms could be employed to obtain the requisite movement of the cradles.

Thepresent invention provides an efficient pickling apparatus which involves a minimum of attention from operatives, the only manual work involved consisting of loading and unloading the bath so that exposure of operatives to harmful fumes and liquid contamination is minimised.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for pickling bars, comprising, in combination with a bath for the pickling liquid, cradle means for supporting the bars in said bath and power driven mechanism which operates upon said cradle means in a repeating cycle, so as to impart movement to the supported bars, by slowly raising said cradle means and then allowing same to lower rapidly.

2. Apparatus for pickling bars, according to claim 1, comprising in addition transversely disposed ramps in the base of the bath, which ramps during the lowering of the cradle means engage the bars and impart thereto lateral movement.

3. Apparatus for pickling bars, comprising, in combination with a bath for the pickling liquid, cradles for supporting the said bars, bell crank levers from which said cradles are flexibly suspended in said bath and power driven mechanism operatively connected to said bell crank levers for rocking the latter so as to raise said cradles slowly and then allow them to lower rapidly in a. repeating cycle to impart movement to the supported bars.

4. Apparatus for pickling bars, according to claim 3, wherein the power driven mechanism for operating the 1 bell crank levers comprises a constantly driven horizontal shaft having a lost motion driving mechanism with a crank disc which is freely revoluble about said shaft in -a vertical plane, and a connecting rod constituting the operative connection between said crank disc and bell crank levers, the said lost motion connection being such that for a part of each revolution of the shaft the crank disc is positively driven to rock the bell crank levers and I raise th e cradles slowly until atop dead centre position is crossed and the load on the cradles then comes into action to cause them to fall and, through the bell crank levers and connecting rod, carry the crank disc rapidly round to a bottom dead centre position ready to be picked up again when the lost motion has been taken up.

5. Apparatus for pickling bars, comprising, in combination with a bath for the pickling liquid, U -shaped cradles for supporting the said bars, said cradles each comprising a transverse strut pivotally connected at its ends to the lower ends of side members, a pair of bell crank levers for each cradle and pivotally mounted one on each side of the bath for rocking movement in verti cal planes,- flexible connections between the side members of each cradle and corresponding arms of the respectively associated bell crank levers, links connecting the bell crank levers on each side of. the bath for simultaneous actuation, a slowly and constantly power-driven horizontal shaft at one end of the bath, crank discs mounted for free rotation in vertical planes about the opposite ends of said shafts, connecting rods connecting the links associated with the bell crank levers on opposite sides of the bath to the respective crank discs, an abutment on each of said crank discs, and driving segments affixed to opposite end portions of said shaft for co-operation with the respective crank disc abutments and affording lost motion driving connections therewith such that during each revolution of said shaft each crank v disc is positively and slowly turned to rock the bell crank levers and slowly raise the suspended cradles until the top dead centre position is crossed and thereafter the abutment is moved away from the driving segment due to gravity acting on the suspended load causing the cradles to fall and, through the bell crank levers and connecting rod, carry the crank disc rapidly round to the bottom dead centre position ready to be picked up again when the lost motion has been taken up.

6. Apparatus for pickling bags according to claim 5, in which transversely disposed ramps with upwardly convex upper surfaces are provided in the base of the bath to engage and impart lateral movement to the bars as the cradles are lowered.

Haller May 17, 1932 Davis Sept. 6, 1949 

1. APPARATUS FOR PICKLING BARS, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION WITH A BATH FOR THE PICKLING LIQUID, CRADLE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE BARS IN SAID BATH AND POWER DRIVEN MECHANISM WHICH OPERATES UPON SAID CRADLE MEANS IN A REPEATING CYCLE, SO AS TO IMPART MOVEMENT TO THE SUPPORTED BARS, BY SLOWLY RAISING SAID CRADLE MEANS AND THEN ALLOWING SAME TO LOWER RAPIDLY. 